Fig. 114.—Larva of Acronycta aceris.
Fig. 115.—Larva of Acronycta aceris taken out of its cocoon.
"Its two jaws are the pincers the caterpillar uses in seizing a portion of one or other of the tufts of hair; and when it has seized it, it tears it out without much difficulty. It at once places this against the tissue it has already commenced, in which it entangles it at first simply by pressure; it fixes it then more securely by spinning over it. It does not leave off tearing out its hairs till it has entirely stripped them off. When the caterpillar has taken between its jaws and torn out a whole tuft of hair, the head carries it and deposits it on some part of the lower surface of the cocoon; but it does not leave the hairs of such a large parcel together. The next moment one sees its head moving about very quickly; then taking a portion of the hairs from the little heap, it distributes them about on the neighbouring parts of the cocoon. If one opens one of these shells before the caterpillar has become a chrysalis, the larva, which is quite naked, and which was only known by its hair, can be no longer recognised."
Fig. 116.—Larva of Chelonia caja.
The caterpillar of the Tiger Moth, or Woolly Bear, called by Réaumur Marte or Herisson (Chelonia caja, [Fig. 116]), is covered with long inclined hairs. This caterpillar also makes use of its hairs for strengthening the tissue of its cocoon; but whether it feels the pain more acutely than the former, or whether it would suffer more, it does not tear out its hairs. It adopts another system; it cuts them. The caterpillar is then enveloped on all sides in its hair, which is to serve in the construction of its cocoon.